Matthew Diaz
Matthew Mark Diaz is an active-duty Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) and former Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAGC) officer in the United States Navy.U.S. Navy says officer passed secret Guantanamo data, Washington Post, August 30, 2006 In mid-to-late 2004, Diaz served a six month tour of duty in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as deputy director of the detention center's legal office. Early in 2005 as LCDR Diaz was concluding his tour, he sent an anonymous greeting card to The Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York civil liberties and human rights group. The card contained the names of the detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. In July 2006, the United States government formally charged Diaz in a military court with five criminal counts related to the sending of these names, the most serious being that he intended to harm national security or advantage a foreign nation, a violation of the Espionage Act. In May 2007, he was convicted by a seven member jury of military officers on 4 of 5 counts. He served a 6 month prison sentence and was dismissed from the military. In April 2008, he was awarded the Ridenhour Prize for Truth Telling.http://www.ridenhour.org/recipients_03f.shtml Family background Diaz is a father to three children from whom he was separated by his duties to the military. He is one of 5 siblings who were all estranged from their father at young age. Diaz is the son of Robert Diaz, a California Registered Nurse convicted in 1984 for the murders of a dozen patients at two southern California hospitals. Robert Diaz's conviction was controversial, and he maintained his innocence until his recent demise in 2010. Matthew Diaz dropped out of high school to enlist in the U.S. Army at the age of 17. He obtained his GED and a Bachelor's degree in Criminology during his nearly nine years of Army service. After obtaining his law degree at Washburn University School of Law in 1994, Diaz was commissioned as a naval officer in the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps. He continues to play an active role in the life of his three children. He has served as a committed member to the US military for most of his life and has acted in the best interest of human kind for all of it. Military career Diaz, 41, is reported to have spent most of his adult life in military service.Navy lawyer once posted at Cuba base is charged, Virginian Pilot, August 29, 2006 The Virginian-Pilot reports that Diaz served eight years as an enlisted man in the United States Army, prior to being commissioned in the USN's Judge Advocate General Corps. Matthew Diaz served his country as a staff judge advocate at Guantánamo. Charges On July 28, 2006, Diaz was formally charged with improperly mailing suspected classified information about detainees in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps to an individual unauthorized to receive it e.g., the Center for Constitutional Rights.Navy lawyer once posted at Cuba base is charged, Virginia Pilot, August 29, 2006 Diaz was convicted and on May 18, 2007, he was sentenced to six months in prison and faced dismissal from the Navy.Jury Recommends 6 Months for Topeka Lawyer, WIBW-TV, May 18, 2007 Scott Horton wrote: The suspect document Barbara Olshansky, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, was the recipient of the document, placed alongside an unmarked Valentines Day card.Navy lawyer convicted of leaking Guantanamo names While Olshansky had requested a list of all detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, the military had failed to provide one. The list provided by Diaz contained the names of 550 captives. The list had seven fields per entry. The 558 names in the official list of captives whose enemy combatant status was confirmed by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal had just three fields. According to the background page to the charges against Diaz, the other six fields of the entries describing captives were: The captives' names had not, at that time, been officially confirmed. Olshansky did not know what to make of receiving the list in this manner, so she contacted Federal authorities. Diaz was not directly involved in either the defense or prosecution of the ten detainees who faced charges before the Guantanamo military commissions. He served as a legal advisor to the JTF-GTMO, the command responsible for detention operations. References External links *Affidavit of Mr. Michael Sweedo, March 1, 2007 *Defense motion to dismiss - Multiplicity and unreasonable multiplication of charges, March 12, 2007 *Defense motion for appropriate relief - Compel expert assistance, March 12, 2007 *Defense response to government motion for appropriate relief - Article 133 maximum punishment, March 31, 2007 *Government motion in limine to exclude testimony regarding certain information, April 13, 2007 *Defense response to government motion in limine to exclude certain evidence, April 23, 2007 *Memorandum Ruling - Defense motion to suppress, April 25, 2007 *Letter from defense counsel to Commander, Joint Task Force - Guantanamo Bay, April 25, 2007 *Defense motion to reconsider defense motion to suppress, April 26, 2007 *"The Persecution of LtCmdr Matthew Diaz", May 14, 2007, Scott Horton, Harpers Magazine *"The National Lawyers Guild Denounces Diaz Sentencing", May 23, 2007 Category:Living people Category:United States Navy officers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Guantanamo Bay attorneys Category:American whistleblowers Category:Place of birth missing (living people)